"I feel like a Puerto Rican in this hair! Rican honey, Rican!"
"I'm dark-skinned, light-skinned, beige, fluorescent beige b**tch, I'm Black!"
These are iconic words from none other than the internet queen turned executive producer, actress, and RuPaul's Drag Race judge, Ts Madison. Oh, and did we mention that she's the first Black trans woman to executive produce and star in her own show?
It doesn't get more legendary than that.
You can't talk about social media videos going viral without mentioning Maddie. She's literally shown the world that trusting oneself and owning your brand can lead to success. Out caught up with the queen to talk about her advocacy, career moves, and, of course, her mainstay role as a recurring judge on RuPaul's Drag Race.
Considering that large platforms always come with great responsibility, Madison discussed how this rise in popularity led her to advocate for the trans community.
"I didn't walk in and say, 'Hey, I'm an advocate.' But I became one. They're listening to me, so let me speak for those that can't; [those] that they're not listening to," Madison said. "I realized how important my place was when I went viral on Vine and I started seeing the influence that I had over popular culture, by sayings, and by memes and that's when it started to really set into me that it was important that I start to make changes in the way that I present to the public."
She added, "It's just like, 'Alright, Madison, you have the ear and the eyes of a massive amount of people. So why don't you use your powers for good?'"
Advocacy can sometimes come with its difficulties, and Madison didn't shy away from talking about those challenging moments.
"When you advocate for someone, you're standing in the place or you're being a presence for a person… a group of people who can't be there because they're not allowed in," the reality TV icon explained. "You're advocating for these people here, but people don't understand that you're also human too."
From hosting her show Maddie in the Mornings and headlining an Atlanta residency, Madison continues to be booked and busy. She practices self-care by diving into her old reads and surrounding herself with her loved ones.
"I love a good read. Listen, some of my most iconic catchphrases have come from a vicious read," Madison said. "But what keeps me grounded is my mother coming and tapping me on my shoulder saying, 'Alright boo, unplug.'"
Fans are definitely plugged in to watch Madison as a judge on Drag Race, and she spoke about envisioning a friendship with RuPaul at a young age.
"I remember being 14 years old, sitting on the floor [watching TV] and a voice telling me that you're going to know that person [RuPaul] and that person is going to be your friend," Madison told Out. "If I wanted to pattern myself or would like to be like any person it would be that person there, because they're so successful."
Being a part of Drag Race gives Madison a sense of fulfillment because of the ways in which she can help kickstart the careers of queer contestants.
"[To] be a part of a change at 46 years old, almost 47, launching queer people into the world to be superstars, following their dreams, financially stable. It's one of those feelings that you can't explain because I remember being none of those things. Not a star, not financially stable, broke," the Drag Race judge said. "To be a part of assisting these girls and judging them or giving them life critiques they could apply [to] this side of the world to be great superstars — it means so much to me in my heart."
The Perfect Find actress has put in a lot of work to be in her position and early on she understood the importance of ownership in the creator economy. "Owning my brand has made it lucrative for me and my future because when nobody understood what I was doing, I placed myself in position to be able to take care of myself and my family by owning the things that come out of my mouth."
Madison, a self-proclaimed "walking meme," advises young creators to write down their ideas because of the copyrighting opportunities on her past phrases like, "Step your ***** up, honey. Get a job. Own a business." Unfortunately, she missed out on making money off of those quotes early in her career. "Write down what you visualize yourself to be, and then after that, get you some representation."
Madison openly speaks about having her own adult content website — which she shut down before the premiere of her very own WeTV show, The Ts Madison Experience.
"I got a call from the network before we aired and they were like hey, you gotta cut this Twitter off. You gotta cut off this adult pay site," Madison told Out. She was not initially comfortable with shutting down the successful platform she created. "I was like, what if this doesn't do well? What if I have to go back to that?" Madison said. "When God was like, 'Trust me h**, trust me! Cut that s**t off. You done did that, fine, that's a part of the story, you don't have to do any of that anymore.'"
In true Maddie fashion, she doesn't care what the trolls have to say about her past. "I bought my first mansion off that, girl. I'm not worried about that. Thanks. Now we're in the next phase of life."
In this next chapter, Madison is letting her faith lead the way.
"I hope to continue to be the vessel. That the universe, God the creator, the benevolent one. People chose me to be, to change, or to help curate goodness for mankind. However it may look, whether they make me a director, a producer, or they make me more of an actress. Whether they make me reach more people through laughter and storytelling, whatever it [is], I'm your willing slave, universe."
The executive producer also said that she hopes to be married one day. "I want the universe to line it up when it's time."
Last but certainly not least, we had to ask the "Cozy" queen about Cowboy Carter after featuring on Beyoncé's 2022 album Renaissance. Some of her favorite tracks are "Sweet Honey Buckin," "Riiverdance," and "II Hands II Heaven." And now you know!
While we wait for Madison to meet her Prince Charming, we can dive into her EH-VRITHENG perfume line that she wants to expand. She'll also be in attendance for DragCon this summer, and we can't wait to see more of her!